Interest Free Wonder

Steve and I have been discussing, for several weeks months, the benefit of buying a flat screen tv for the living room.
It is something that I know will one day happen and I am not against it, we just don't really need it at present.
However, as all the extra machines (DVD player, Blue Ray, Sky, TIVO sort of thing) in the living room slowly die and get up dated, then it becomes more obvious that our old large square box tv is just not compatible with these other machines. Well it is compatible in that they play but we have picture and sound quality issues.

So when Steve told me of a staff discount day at one of the local homeware stores, then I rushed on over and sussed out the best deals. Needless to say I stood my ground and we decided we didn't need to buy the tv that day as we would have to come up with the money up front there and then!
The reason being that this particular store is very good at having interest free deals all the time.

In 2005, just as Alex was born, we realised we needed a bed for Ben to sleep in, so we got bunk beds from said store and got them on interest free credit. 36 months actually with 12 months deferred payment. We had the boys sleeping in the beds for nearly 3 years before we finally paid for them.

Now let me just inform you, we pay the amount off before the interest free period ends, so in fact this company really doesn't like us at all! We never pay any interest because as soon as we make the purchase I divide the amount by the months and pay that monthly amount. It is always much more than their recommended minimum payment of 3%. So in the last 5 odd years of being with them they have gained no extra money from us at all. They must hate us!

So from then on whenever we have wanted anything for the house, we choose it in the store and then wait until they have a good interest free promotion on. And oh boy have they had some good ones.
In 2006 we brought a new digital camera on 24 months interest free, I think the camera had died before we had finished paying for it.
In 2008 we brought all the new appliances for the kitchen on 40 months interest free, we are just coming to end of paying something stupid like $67 a month.
Last year it was decided that a Laptop computer was really needed for me to do my studies, seeing as I have to travel an hour to see the tutor, so we brought it when they had 48 months interest free. Think it would have been fairer to them to just give me the computer because they are making absolutely no money out of us at all, not at $50 for the next 4 yrs and no interest!

So after Christmas we saw that the company had had a special on over Christmas of 50 months interest free. 2 weekends ago it was down to 30 months and last weekend they only had a discounted price on, no interest free period. Their specials usually only last for a weekend, so if you want to get that special then you have to go there and then.
Steve said lets go, 30 months is good, but I know this store and told him to wait.........and sure enough, for this holiday weekend they have 50 months interest free till Monday.

So I have succummed and told Steve to go and get his TV this weekend, it may not get put on the wall just yet but at 50 months, it is just stupid a time not to buy it.
Think my husband will be way happy this weekend.

Half Ton Dad

Last night I watched a programme about a guy that weighed over 1000lb in the US, that is about 470kg.

They didn't dwell too much on how he got to this size, just more looking at what the hospital and famous Gastric Surgeon was going to help him with to reduce his size.

One area they breifly touch on was how he had got to this size when he could no longer walk? They never actually came right out and said that his partner was to blame but they may as well have, because she was the one bring him the food.

At the end of the programme it mentioned that the family, now that he was out of hospital, was now receiving nutritional support and therapy! They should have been receiving this the whole time he was in the hospital because every shot they showed you throughout the show was of them eating take aways - Burger King, Wendy's etc

His daughter had a baby whilst he was in the hospital and at one stage they showed you the mother letting her 4 month old baby try a Wendy's hamburger!

This family never sat at the table to eat their meal.

So many things were jumping out at me that was wrong, yet their worry was this guy and getting his weight down. He still wasn't totally mobile when he came home from the hospital 8 months later and I was afraid that as he was still dependant on his family to bring him his food that things may go backwards instead of forwards?

They also followed a 19 yr old who had got to the point of no return. He had one thing in his favour and that was the fact he could still walk himself to the bathroom. In fact he walked himself out to the ambulance when they came to collect him to take him to hospital.

His mother admitted that she was to blame as she mothered him too much and gave him what ever he wanted, but when ever he wanted food, she made it and brought it to him whilst he sat in his chair.

If he could move, even with difficulty, he should have still be attempting to walk to the kitchen to get the food, at least the moving around would have been doing him some good?

But no his mother spoilt him rotten, literally.

It was an interesting programme from the theatre nurse side as it is only in the last 3-5 yrs that we have started operating here on patients that are larger than the recommended 140kg weight for the operating table. To see them operating on this guy, who yes had lost a lot of weight by the time they did the first operation, he was down to 600lb / 270kg.

It was still amazing to comprehend it all, just the sheer size for the anaesthetics alone was amazing.

At the end of the programme their talked to one of the main ladies involved with this and asked her if this amazed her, the size the man had got too? Her answer was that sadly no, she expected to see larger people soon.

Bears

Many years ago I brought myself the 5 disc box set of the Berenstain Bears DVD's. There are 40 episodes to watch, and I know there are many more episodes available, even to the point that Ma, Pa, Brother & Sister now have Honey Bear in their family!

They are my sort of thing. Good clean, family, moral and value learning.

I never in a million years imagined that my 2 cute little boys would love them as much as they do.

Alex calls them the 'Dancing Bears'

Their episodes seem to cover all sorts of everyday life things and the boys just love watching them.

Ben seems to love the ones that show the bears doing sport, in particular Basketball, and as we have a significant birthday coming up soon, followed not too far behind with Christmas, then the conversation about what he would like keeps appearing.

His answer to all at present is.....basketball and hoop please.

So the bears win hands down in our house at the moment, I know this will probably change in the next 6 months with Ben starting school and having peer influences, but for now I am happy to keep them watching fun innocent stuff like the Berenstain Bears, they have plenty of time to grow up on to bigger stuff next year!

Satelite Dish

This nice man is our "sparky", also known as Richard and also known as Steve's Best Man for our wedding.
He is the husband of my best friend here in Hamilton.

He kindly spent all of Sunday trying to get our satelite dish on the roof so we could get some decent viewing on the tv.